Game Reviews

Wispin

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Wispin
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The protagonist of indie developer Grumpy Face Studios’s latest iPhone game is a little hero with a rather unusual super-power: he can change colour at will.

In the real world, only a delusional king of pop could find such a power useful, but in Wispin’s universe it makes him quite the badarse.

It also helps facilitate an enjoyably original – if somewhat limited – arcade experience.

Indiscriminate violence

Wispin’s task is to defeat successive waves of blob-like creatures. He can take them out by flying into them, but he has to match their individual colours (red, green, or blue) to do so.

This is achieved through a twin-stick set-up, although you can opt for an unrecommended accelerometer control scheme. Your left thumb handles movement while your right selects the colours, represented by a circle split evenly between the three.

It works well for the most part, although changing colour isn’t always the reliably responsive process that the more demanding waves require: movement just feels a little loose.

Once you adjust to the controls, each level becomes a case of flitting between blobs, changing colour, and racking up combos. Beat three in a row of any one colour and you get a speed boost, while an overall combo of 20 blobs sets Wispin off on an indestructible pinball-like rampage.

Primary colours

The core gameplay is pleasantly fresh and quite unlike anything else on iPhone and iPod touch. There’s not quite enough variety or depth, though.

The challenge is based around tackling ever-tougher combinations of enemies, with the size and potency of the blobs increasing. Yet the pace and style never changes, aside from occasionally requiring you to be cagier about approaching your targets as they gain the ability to spit bombs, arrows, and lasers.

There isn’t enough to keep you occupied, either, with only two level themes and an unlockable Super Intense mode (essentially a harder endless mode).

Still, Wispin looks a treat and genuinely stands out as fresh on a platform that’s not exactly shy of quirky arcade kicks.

Wispin

Wispin is a bright, original arcade experience that needs to expand its palette with additional modes and gameplay features
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.